Family Ties
by IWillBelieveIt
Summary: When Zoe returns, she's told the story of the original M.I.High team. To satisfy her burning curiosity in Dan's likeness to Billy, Zoe starts researching Billy Backshaw and unearths a Morgan family secret that Stella, M.I.9, and unknowingly, Dan, have been hiding from the rest of the team. A family secret that could very well put Dan at the top of KORPS' most wanted list . . .
1. Chapter 1

**I know I shouldn't be starting a new story, because I've got Thirst and Doppelganger and like a bajillion assignments to do, but meh. Now, I know this chapter seems a lot like a one-shot, but it's not, I swear. **

* * *

Tom leapt back as Dan took a swing at him with his right arm. While the blonde was still recovering, Tom managed to shove him back a few steps, an action that filled him with pride. That was tangible proof that he was getting stronger – only a week ago, he would have done the exact same thing and Dan wouldn't have budged.

Tom's self-pride ended up being his downfall. By the way Dan was fighting, he'd been thinking about Zoe before training – his fighting was more aggressive, his blue eyes slightly wild. While Tom was bathing in his small victory, Dan shoved him backwards so that he landed on his back.

"That was good." Dan said, helping him up and then grabbing his drink bottle.

"Good?" Tom asked. "I got pummelled. Again."

From their spot against the wall, Keri and Aneisha snickered, hiding it behind their hands.

"You'll get better." Dan told him, flopping into a chair. "It just takes time."

"Right." Tom said sarcastically, massaging a knot out of his shoulder while Aneisha glanced over at Dan curiously.

"Are you okay, Dan?" Aneisha asked.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Dan asked, throwing his drink bottle up in the air and catching it easily.

"Zoe." Aneisha said quietly.

Immediately, it was as if Dan had had a complete personality switch. He went from being Dan, the carefree teenage boy, to being Daniel, the young man who'd lost his first love. His jaw tightened and Aneisha could see pain behind his blue eyes and he may have even shed a tear.

Then, finally, he said, "I don't care about what Zoe thinks of me anymore."

Then Keri piped up; "That's a lie and you and I both know it."

"You know what else I know?" Dan asked. He leaned forward towards the girls, blue eyes glinting. "I – am not – talking to you – about her."

"And _that_ proves you still care." Aneisha said. Dan glanced over at Aneisha, his eyes glinting dangerously. "How the hell does that prove anything?"

"If you really didn't care about Zoe anymore, you'd have no issues talking to Keri about her." Aneisha said. Dan clenched his jaw and looked away. He didn't need other people telling him that he still loved Zoe and that he missed her like she'd taken part of him with her when she left. He already knew that.

Suddenly Tom got up and started to walk out the door.

"Where are you going?" Aneisha asked.

"Hot date?" Keri asked, grinning.

"Something like that." Tom muttered, walking out.

* * *

An hour later, Dan was still sitting in the training room, although Keri and Aneisha had left ages ago, not that long after Tom. He was drowning in his own sorrow, mourning the love he'd lost, for the love that could have been.

Dan blinked away tears when he heard footsteps, his hands gripping his chair tightly. "Neish, if you're here to bug me about Zoe some more, I really don't –"

Dan broke off when he looked up, his train of thought crashing into the inside of his skull. His eyes quickly grazed over the slim auburn-haired girl standing in the doorway, wearing blue skinny jeans, a white top and white flip-flops. Her auburn hair was worn loose and it settled on her shoulders, framing a delicate face with big green eyes and a soft mouth.

"Zoe." Dan breathed, causing a sad smile to grace the girl's mouth. She didn't say anything, she just stood there, watching him for a long time. He looked older than she remembered – there was a maturity in his blue eyes that hadn't been there before.

"Dan." Zoe breathed suddenly, her eyes filling with tears and it was like something snapped in both of them. Dan stood and Zoe ran to him, her body colliding with his as Dan wrapped his arms tightly around her. Zoe found that he'd grown taller too – he was now a whole head taller than her. Somehow, this made the threat of her tears more prominent and she squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to keep them back.

"Hey, hey." Dan whispered against her hair. "Shh, Zo. It's alright. You're back."

She hadn't even realised she was crying.

"I shouldn't have left, though." Zoe whimpered, burying her face in his shirt.

"Hey." Dan said softly, taking her face in his hands and making her look up at him, so his ocean-blue eyes bore into her own. Zoe allowed herself to get lost in his eyes and then she summed up the courage to do something she'd always wanted to. She reached up and pressed her mouth against his, resting her hand on his neck. Dan was surprised, but he placed his hands on her hips and drew her closer, crushing his mouth against her's.

* * *

Somehow, they ended up in the main part of HQ, where Dan slid his hands down Zoe's sides until they reached her thighs and then he swung her up on top of the circular table. Zoe grinned, her mouth finding Dan's again in a passionate kiss. When Dan moved his mouth down to her throat, Zoe placed her hand on his chest and pushed gently.

"Dan, no. I'm not doing this with you here right now." Zoe told him. Dan sighed, but he smiled at her as she hopped off the table and stood beside him, leaning on the table. Dan took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. Zoe smiled and looked down at the tabletop, noticing a black-and-white photo of three teens who looked quite similar to Tom, Aneisha and the blonde standing beside her.

Dan picked up the photo and pointed to each teen as he said their name. "Jack Watkins, Emily Cartwright and Billy Backshaw. The original M. team."

Zoe pursed her lips and took the photo from him, studying it thoughtfully. "I wonder . . ."

"Not that look." Dan said.

"What look?"

"The look that says 'There's something mysterious here and I'm going to find out what it is'." Dan told her. "Zo, seriously, just leave it. It's just a coincidence that I look like him."

"Yeah, but Dan, you could be _the same person reincarnated_, for all we know. Aren't you the least bit curious as to _why_?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I want to know." Dan replied.

"Well _I _want to know." Zoe told him. Dan smiled down at her, reaching out and taking her hand, squeezing her fingers tightly, just as the lift doors opened and Keri, Aneisha and Tom walked out.

"Oh my God he smiles!" Keri shouted with a grin. Then, upon noticing the reason for Dan's smile, which was so rare these days, her grin faded and she said, "Oh – my – God."

"ZOE!" Aneisha shouted, barrelling towards the auburn-haired girl. Zoe laughed as Aneisha tackled her in a hug. When Aneisha released her, Tom stepped forward and hugged Zoe, which she found surprising. When she was released again, she turned to her sister. Keri had heard so much, not from Dan, but from Aneisha and Tom and Frank, about this mysterious Zoe, this girl who'd been trained by SKUL, who Dan had fallen in love with and who had broken his heart when she left. The 'breaking Dan's heart' had been emphasised a lot.

"I'm Zoe." Zoe said quietly, slightly unsure of how to act around Keri.

"I know." Keri said, her blue eyes cautious.

Zoe's eyebrows rose as Dan watched the two sisters cautiously. Suddenly the tension in the air was so thick, Dan could have grabbed his pocket knife and cut it with it.

"What else do you know?"

"That for a while you thought you were Mastermind's daughter. That you spent most of your life at SKUL and you hated it. That you and Dan fell in love last year. That you left and broke his heart." Keri said, crossing her arms over her chest. Zoe looked taken aback and immediately, Keri felt guilty. This was her _sister _and she was being horrible to her, just because of things she's been told about her. How did that make Keri any better than Preston, who liked to say she was stupid, just because she was pretty?

Keri sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just . . . Dan's my friend and I've spent the past couple of months being upset and withdrawn because you left him to go find our sisters."

Now it was Zoe's turn to look guilty. "That's not entirely true."

"So you weren't looking for your sisters?" Dan asked.

"No, I was." Zoe said, turning to him. "But that's not the reason I left. I left to protect _you,_ Dan."

"I don't need protecting." Dan said.

"But I do." Zoe said. "I hate to admit it, but I do need protecting. And you can't help protecting me, Dan, and at Sternum, that could have gotten you _killed_. So I left to protect you from me."

"So why are you back then?" Keri asked.

"One, you're the last of my sisters I haven't met yet." Zoe told Keri with a smile. Then she turned to Dan and her expression sobered. "The other reason is that it was _killing _me, Dan, to stay away from you. Every time you called and I didn't pick up, I _wanted _to. So badly you wouldn't believe it. And Dan, I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. I don't deserve your love. But I love you. Even if you tell me to go – and if you do, I will. You'll never see me again, I promise. Even if you tell me to go, you need to know that because I know you felt the same way once."

Suddenly, Zoe didn't care that they were surrounded by people and that she probably should have waited until they were alone to tell him all this, but she didn't care. She needed him to know this.

All through her confession, Dan had been watching her with an astonished expression. That expression didn't change in the slightest as Zoe stood beside Keri, her green eyes glued to his face.

"Say something." Zoe whispered.

Without a word, Dan walked around the table to Zoe, some unknown emotion swirling in his blue eyes.

Then he took her face in his hands and pressed his mouth against hers.

This kiss was different to the one they shared before – it wasn't completely driven by passion. This kiss was driven by love and tenderness – the kind of epic kiss they showed at the end of a romance movie. As it was, Tom and Aneisha and Keri were whooping, but Dan and Zoe barely heard them – they were too wrapped up in each other. Zoe was revelling in the fact that this wasn't in the heat of the moment and he was still kissing her with everything he had, with every ounce of love he had in his body.

Finally, reality set in in the form of the lack of oxygen. Both gasping, Dan and Zoe separated – barely. Dan's rested his forehead against Zoe's as she looked up at him, her green eyes shining.

"Zoe, I don't want you to go anywhere. It's been hell without you because I love you."

Zoe smiled up at him, her eyes shining with happiness. She felt like she was on cloud nine, her heart soaring high above them. Even after everything she'd done to him, he still wanted her. Even after everything she'd done, he still loved her.

"Well, if he forgives you . . . I'm willing to give you a chance." Keri said, from behind them. Hearing those words leave her sister's mouth made Zoe feel as if she could burst with happiness. Practically sobbing with happiness, she pulled Keri, Tom, Aneisha and Dan into a group hug as the hole in her heart that had been there since she left filled again. She'd been all over the globe, but this was where she belonged. With Dan, with her friends, with MI9.

With her _real _family.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! So I have some news. Basically, I have so many stories to write that it would take me about a year to write them all, and that is if I didn't have homework and assignments and all the other crap teachers like to give me, so I've made a decision. On my bio, there's a list of stories with their summaries under the title 'Stories up for adoption'. ****They're what the name suggests - they're ideas for stories that I've had but I just don't have the time to write. Now, if you guys want the rights for any of those stories, just throw me an inbox (not literally, that would be painful) saying so. I'm not playing favourites with this, so it's first in, best dressed. I can tell you know that the stories up for adoption are called Beating Hearts, Voices and Head Trauma. When I get the reply saying which story you want the rights for, I'll give you a more in-depth description of what my plans for the story was. Okay, now that's done, on with the story!**

* * *

Over the next few days, Zoe settled back into a routine similar to the one she'd had before she left. She was ecstatic when Dan told her that Melissa had left and her jaw had dropped to her knees when he told her that the new vice headmaster, Ms King, was Aneisha's auntie.

Although Zoe's routine was similar to her previous one, there were some additions. After her and Dan's declaration of love in HQ, the two had started dating and they weren't particularly discreet about it either. Before Zoe had left they might have been more private in their affections but they'd been without each other for over half a year.

Although Zoe was quite occupied with Dan, she did make as much time as she could to spend with Keri. The fact that Zoe was purposely taking time that she could have been spending with her boyfriend made Keri warm up to her sister incredibly quickly. Before meeting her, Keri had imagined Zoe to be a two-faced bitch who cared about no one but herself. The more time that Keri spent with her sister, the more she saw that that was as far from the truth as possible. Zoe was possibly the most selfless person Keri had ever met and in no way was she two-faced. She was one hundred percent genuine with everyone she met. And Keri could see from simply the way that she _looked _at Dan that she was ridiculously in love with him.

"I wish I had the strength to do what you did." Keri told Zoe one day, when they were sitting on one of the benches in the schoolyard. With anyone else, Zoe was would have feigned ignorance, but she didn't bother with Keri. She knew that her sister wasn't stupid.

"I don't know why you think it was strong." Zoe told her. "I think it was the weakest thing I've ever done, leaving him like that."

"I don't know why you think it was weak. You left to protect him."

"But I couldn't bring myself to tell him." Zoe said. "I made him think that I didn't care about him."

"And now he knows different." Someone said as hands were placed on Zoe's shoulders. Zoe screamed and got up, turning so that she could see Dan, standing behind the bench. Zoe crossed her arms over her chest and Keri erupted into laughter, pushing her auburn hair out of her eyes. Zoe looked from her sister to her boyfriend, who was leaning on the back of the bench and laughing.

"Screw you, Daniel." Zoe said, pouting. Dan stopped laughing, but amusement still twinkled in his blue eyes as he walked around the bench to Zoe, whose annoyed expression melted into something else as she looked up at him, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth. She kind of wished he'd kiss her, even if they were right in the middle of the playground, but instead he just tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She flushed and ducked her head so that her hair fell forward to conceal her face.

Even through loving Dan, getting to know her sister, struggling to catch up on her schoolwork and focusing on her spywork, Zoe couldn't keep the story of the original M. team out of her head. Dan had told her the story of how they became agents, how they'd noticed something off about their head teacher and taken the initiative of MI9 agents by investigating. What made them stick in her head, always bothering her, was the uncanny resemblance between Dan and Billy Backshaw. Finally she couldn't take the wondering, her own burning curiosity.

One day after school she went down to HQ and sat down at the computer. Before she could stop herself, she typed in 'Billy Backshaw'. She didn't find much – a lot on him was kept classified. Whatever she did find was useless.

Zoe looked up when she heard footsteps, her mouth curving into a smile when she saw Dan. "I thought you'd gone home."

"Nah." Dan said, standing behind her and kissing the top of her head. "What are you doing?"

"Looking up Billy Backshaw." Zoe said, sitting back in her chair as Dan's arms fell from Zoe's head to her shoulders. Zoe felt him smile against the top of her head and then he asked, "Are still onto this because I look like him?"

Zoe bit back a smile. "Maybe . . ."

Dan grinned as he pulled up a chair beside her and sat down. "Have you found anything?"

Zoe shook her head and sighed. "Everything's classified."

"You know it doesn't really matter, don't you?" Dan asked. Zoe glanced over at him as he continued, "I mean, he was recruited _seventy_ years ago. We can't be related because we don't even have _remotely_ similar last names, unless I'm adopted. And I find the probability of that to be highly unlikely."

"So is the probability of being recruited as an MI9 agent." Zoe said.

Dan shrugged. "I suppose you're right."

"Of course I'm right." Zoe said with a smile.

Dan smiled at her. "Just . . . Just don't get upset about it if you don't find anything, alright?"

Zoe nodded. "I won't. But it's not just a coincidence, Dan. I'm sure of it."

* * *

Over the following days, Zoe tried desperately to find any information about Billy Backshaw. After two days of obsessing over it, she enlisted Tom. Together, the pair would sit at the computer as Tom hacked into classified file after classified file. And while they did it, Dan sat behind them, growing more and more worried as the days passed. Zoe had just spent months worrying about him and now she was working herself to the bone trying to figure out his connection to Billy Backshaw. It wasn't healthy.

After a week of watching Zoe and Tom work to figure out his connection to Backshaw, Dan had had enough. They had pulled several all-nighters in that period and both had looked like zombies the following day.

"Zo." Dan said while they were down there at lunch one day – Tom was stuck in detention after Ms King caught him listening to music in class, so Zoe had been left to the research on her own. When she didn't answer, Dan tried again.

"Zo."

Still nothing.

Exasperated, Dan shouted, "Zoe!"

"Dan!" Zoe shouted back with a smile, swivelling her chair around to face him. Her smile disappeared, however, when she saw the look on Dan's face. "What's wrong?"

"Maybe . . . Maybe you should just leave it alone." Dan said. "You're obviously not finding anything."

"_Yet_." Zoe said. "We haven't found anything _yet_. And why do you want me to stop? You were all for it the other day."

"I never objected to it." Dan said. "But I was never 'all for it' either."

Zoe crossed her arms over her chest. "Well what's the problem then?"

"It's just . . . I think you're wasting your time. I just don't want you to be disappointed when you don't find anything."

Zoe's eyes narrowed as she studied him. Dan, who knew she could read him like a book, looking away.

"_Or_," Zoe said, getting out of her chair and leaning against the table. "You could tell me the Morgan Family Secret that you don't want me to know about."

Dan turned back to Zoe. "Why do you think I'm hiding something? You used to trust me."

"I do trust you! I just want to know why you obviously don't trust me enough to tell me why you don't want me looking into Billy Backshaw."

"I can't believe you." Dan said. With that he got up and walked out, glaring at Zoe as the lift doors closed on him. Zoe sighed and sat back down, letting her head fall into her hands as she forced back tears.


	3. Chapter 3

Zoe was still sitting with her head in her hands when Tom came back, flopping into the seat beside her. She knew he was there, but she didn't bother looking up.

"Zoe?" Tom asked. "Are you okay?"

Zoe raised her head, brushing tears from her cheeks. "Dan and I had a fight."

Tom looked at her sadly. "What was it about?"

"He doesn't want me looking into Billy." Zoe said. Then she took a deep breath. "If we don't find anything tonight, I'm going to drop this altogether. It's not worth having arguments with Dan."

Tom nodded. "Well let's get started then."

* * *

The next day at lunch, Dan went down to HQ upon seeing his pencil begin to flash. He expected to see Frank, but instead he found Zoe leaning against the table with her arms crossed. Her hair was pulled up neatly into a bun and she turned to look at him as he entered. A small smile graced her features and she said, "You came."

"Did you doubt that I would?" Dan asked.

"You were pretty upset with me yesterday." Zoe said quietly.

"I shouldn't have tried to stop you." Dan said. "I take you've found something on Billy."

Zoe nodded as Dan walked around to stand beside her. Zoe swiped her hand through the air and two photos appeared on the screen – both of what appeared to be the same teenage boy, except one was in colour and wore jeans and a blue t-shirt, while the other was in black-and-white and was wearing a school uniform from sometime during World War II.

"Dan Morgan, aged sixteen." Zoe said, pointing to the colour photo. Then she pointed to the black and white one. "Billy Backshaw, aged sixteen."

She swiped her hand across again and both photos disappeared, a single one replacing it. This one was in colour and it showed an old man, probably about eighty. He had piercing blue eyes and Dan's own blue eyes flashed with recognition. He grasped the table behind him to keep himself upright and Zoe glanced over at him curiously.

"This is Billy Theodore Backshaw a month ago." Zoe said. "Also known as – "

"William Theodore Morgan." Dan finished. "My grandfather."

Zoe nodded. "At twenty-one, Billy married Miss Lucinda Morgan and several years later, they had a child – Mason Backshaw. When Mason was seventeen, Billy tried to get him to join MI9, but he wanted no part in it. Billy kept trying to get him to join and eventually, Mason reached breaking point. After an argument with Billy, Mason moved away and took his mother's maiden name so that he was now known as Mason Shaun Morgan." Zoe explained. "Not too long after your brother was born, Mason decided to meet with his father again. Both resolved their differences and Billy agreed to go by the name Mason had been going by for thirty years." She swiped her hand across once again, showing a photo of the old man, looking about ten years younger, with a little boy with brown hair and the same piercing blue eyes as he. Immediately, Dan recognised the baby boy as his older brother Kevin.

Dan swallowed and looked up at the photo of his grandfather and his brother. "Is it . . . Is it possible that you got it wrong? I mean, Billy _can't _be my grandfather. He just _can't_."

"Why?" Zoe asked gently. "Why can't Billy Backshaw be your grandfather, Dan?"

"Because he's _insane_." Dan said, his eyes darting frantically, wildly, between Zoe and the photo of Billy. "Zo, half the time, he doesn't even remember who I am! I haven't even seen him since I was ten."

Zoe's brow furrowed. "Why haven't you . . ." She trailed off as Dan shrugged out of his jacket and pulled up the hem of his shirt. Then, gently, he grabbed her hand and guided her fingers to a small scar above his hip. Zoe ran her fingers over it gently and then looked up at him. "What happened?"

"One minute I was sitting there talking to him – I was really happy because I'd found out that one of the girls in my class liked me," Dan said. "And then, next minute, he's thrown me across the room and started screaming about how I was in danger from the dead. Then he grabbed me and shoved me into the wall. As I fell, I hit my head on a table and passed out. When I woke up, I was told that I'd had a minor concussion."

To prove his point, Dan let go of his shirt and reached up, pushing his hair away from his right temple. Zoe looked up, her lips parting as she saw the scar on the side of his head. Putting one hand on his waist to keep herself steady in such close proximity to him, Zoe reached up and traced the scar with her fingertips. Dan closed his eyes as Zoe let her fingers fall from his face, trailing down his cheek to rest on his face. He only opened his eyes when Zoe's hand left him, her eyes watching him carefully as he ducked his head, resting his forehead against her's.

"So you're trying to tell me my _grandfather _is one of the first M. spies?" Dan asked softly, his deep blue eyes staring into Zoe's. Once, Zoe nodded and Dan stepped away from her, turning so his back was to her.

"Hey." Zoe said, moving forward and touching his arm. "Hey. Dan. Hey, look at me."

Slowly, Dan turned to face her and when he did, Zoe could see that he was close to tears. She took his face in her hands, staring up into his beautiful blue eyes. "Dan, you do not have _anything _you need to live up to. You are not Billy, you are you. I love _you_, and it doesn't matter who your family is. _Nothing _can ever change how I feel about you."

"Nothing?" Dan asked quietly.

Zoe nodded. "Nothing. KORPS can kill me, they can torture me, they can do whatever they want to me, but the one thing that will never, _ever_ change, whether I'm on heaven, hell or Earth, is that I love you."

Zoe took in his features carefully. She could see his inner turmoil, see him struggling to come to terms with the fact that he was related to Billy. There were several things that Zoe struggled with in her relationship with Dan. Most of it was normal insecure girlfriend stuff – worrying that maybe she wasn't good enough, maybe she wasn't pretty enough, curvy enough, etcetera, etcetera. Other stuff was not so common – such as not being able to support him as much as she'd like, because of her inexperience with the world. But there was one thing she did know about. She knew about thinking you knew who your family was and then having your whole world turned upside down in the form of being told that your family wasn't who you thought they were.

Zoe didn't say anything – she just pushed up on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. Dan sighed, wrapping his arms around her and pressing his face against her hair.

"I love you, Zo." Dan said quietly.

"I love you too." Zoe replied, running her hands over his shoulders. When Zoe released him, Dan slowly raised his eyes to meet hers. "I need to talk to Billy."


	4. Chapter 4

After school, Dan walked down home in a daze. Everything Zoe had told him about Billy and his father was spinning in his head. He was pretty sure that if his father found out that he was an M.I.9 agent (although it was highly unlikely), he would lock him up until he resigned, so he'd be in that cell a _very long time _because he wasn't resigning. Ever. He loved his job and he wasn't giving it up for anybody, especially his own father.

Zoe had convinced him to wait until tomorrow to go see his grandfather – he needed time to process everything, she'd said. Reluctantly, he'd agreed.

Because of his frustration at everything, Dan slammed the door when he walked inside the house, causing both his father and Kevin to come running.

"What the hell?" Mason said. "You've been told before about –"

"Bad day." Dan grunted, moving towards the staircase.

"What happened?" Mason asked.

"Nothing." Dan replied.

"Don't you _dare_ lie to me, Daniel Mor –" Mason started. Before he could even finish, Dan turned on him.

"Don't you _dare_ talk to me about lies!" Dan shouted. "When were you planning to tell me about grandpa?"

"What are you talking about?" Mason asked.

"You know _exactly _what I'm talking about." Dan snapped. "That, by rights, my last name should be Backshaw."

With that, Dan turned away from his brother and father's shocked faces and stomped up to his room, slamming his bedroom door behind him for a good measure. Dumping his bag on the floor, Dan flopped onto his bed and pulled out his iPod, shoving headphones over his ears and turning it up as loudly as it would go.

He looked up when he faintly heard the door open and he reached for something to throw at Kevin, but he relaxed when he saw that it was Zoe standing in the doorway. She had one hand on the door and she looked worried, but relieved at the same time, as if she'd prepared to see worse.

Zoe offered him a small smile as she closed the door behind her and sat beside him on the bed; Dan pulled the headphones off so that they sat on his neck.

"I take it you aren't doing so well, with the way you blew up at your dad."

"You heard that, huh?" Dan asked.

"Yep. You seemed upset earlier, so I followed you home." Zoe said. "Sorry."

Dan shook his head and pressed a kiss to her hair. "Don't be. You were just worried about me. Being a good girlfriend."

Zoe smiled and flushed, ducking her head. When she looked up, her green eyes still looked worried. "Are you okay, though, Dan?"

Dan shrugged. "I'll be fine. It's just . . . a bit of a shock, that's all. I'll be fine once we go talk to . . . Billy tomorrow."

Zoe nodded. "I know. Don't give me that crap about not knowing how you feel, Dan, because I do. Not that long ago, I didn't even _know _I had any family. Now I've met every single one of my _eighty-six _sisters. Trust me, I know about being forced to question _everything _you think you knew about who your family are." She said, leaning against the bed head. "Been there, done that."

Dan felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. "So if there's anyone who should be there for me through all of this, it should be you, right?"

Zoe grinned up at him. "Exactly."

Dan ducked his head and pressed his mouth against her's, putting his hand at the back of her neck. Dan abruptly lifted his head when he heard the door open, turning to see Kevin standing in the doorway, staring at Zoe like she were a foreign creature. "How'd you get in here? I didn't see you come in."

Zoe glanced quickly between Dan and Kevin. "I snuck in."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Can you wait outside for a minute?"

"Sure." Zoe said, getting up. She glanced over her shoulder at Dan before she squeezed past Kevin, closing the door behind her. Dan pulled the headphone cord out of his iPod and then glanced up at his brother. "What do you want?"

"How'd you know about Grandpa?" Kevin asked.

"So you _did_ know." Dan said.

"Dad was going to tell you." Kevin said. "When you were old enough."

"Three months away from seventeen isn't old enough?" Dan shouted.

"And _that's _why Dad wouldn't tell you!" Kevin responded. "Because we all _knew _that you'd overreact, that you wouldn't be able to cope!"

"Get out." Dan said, his voice dangerously low.

"Dan –" Kevin started.

"Get the fuck out!" Dan snarled, grabbing a can of deodorant and throwing it at him. Kevin dodged and, casting his younger brother a cold look, he walked out. Dan glared at his back until Zoe walked in, sitting on the bed beside him. She looked at him worriedly, but before she had the chance to say anything, Dan crushed his lips against her's, his hands cupped her cheeks. Zoe gasped into his kiss, but then she wrapped her arms around his neck as her mouth pressed back against his. Dan's arms wrapped around Zoe's waist, pulling her closer.

When they broke apart, what felt like a thousand years later, Zoe opened her eyes into Dan's ocean-blue ones.

"That's what Kevin interrupted." Dan said softly and Zoe grinned up at him.

"Well maybe I'm going to have to throttle him." Zoe said, the hair at the back of Dan's neck tickling her fingers.

"Later." Dan told her, pulling her back to him for another kiss.


	5. Chapter 5

Zoe glanced up at the old people's home and then glanced over at Dan, who looked stressed. "Are you sure this isn't another prison for old people?"

Dan smiled tightly. "It's not. I'd know if it was."

Zoe reached out and took his hand. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Dan nodded. "Yeah. You and Tom spent so long trying to work this out. We should hear it from the source."

"You don't have to." Zoe said gently. "We can lock all this up and we don't ever have to speak of it again."

"But it's always going to be around. I'm always going to wonder." Dan said. "And it'll be easier to find out while he's still alive, over when I'm twenty-eight and he's long dead." He took a deep breath and glanced over at Zoe. "Let's go."

There was a middle-aged woman sitting at the front desk when they entered. She had long black hair that was twisted up into a bun and when she looked up, Zoe saw that she had large hazel eyes. Even though she was middle aged, Zoe had a hard time guessing what her age was, because some of her features looked so young. When the woman saw Dan, she smiled. "Daniel Morgan! I haven't seen you since you were at least nine!"

Dan grinned. "It's nice to see you too, Alice. This is Zoe." He siad, gesturing to the redhead beside him.

Zoe waved and smiled, causing Alice to look quickly between them both. "Girlfriend?"

Dan nodded and Alice smiled. "You've definitely grown up. What re you now, nineteen?"

"Sixteen." Dan replied. "I'm not that old!"

Alice smiled, but then it faded. "I'm guessing you're not here just to see me."

Dan looked apologetic. "Sorry. I need to see Grandpa."

Alice looked worried. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, after what happened last time -"

I' fully aware of what happened last time I was here." Dan said, a little too sharply. "I need to talk to him. It's important."

Alice sighed. "Room 305."

Dan knocked on the door that was labeled '305,' and then pushed it open, Zoe right behind him. His blue eyes found the old man in the bed, the same man who had been in photo that Zoe had shown him. Zoe noticed that Dan and the man had the same eyes and although the old man's hair was completely grey, Zoe could imagine him having any other hair colour apart from blonde.

The man looked up as Dan sat down in the chair at his bedside, lacing his fingers together. Zoe moved to stand beside Dan's chair and although he didn't look up, Dan was grateful for her presence.

"Kevin?" The man asked.

Dan shook his head. "No, I'm his younger brother. Daniel."

William Morgan's expression remained blank for a moment, but then he smiled. "Daniel! How are you, boy?"

Dan smiled. "I'm not too bad. Grandpa, I need to ask you something."

"What about?"

Dan took a deep breath. "MI9 and St Heart's High School."

"I don't know anything about that."

"I think you do." Dan said. He pulled out his MI9 ID and showed it to him, which caused the old man to smile. "Keeping the family legacy alive, are you?"

Dan nodded. "Grandpa . . . is your real name Billy Backshaw?"

William opened his mouth to anwser, bu then his expression became blank and staring. Dan paled and jumped up from his seat. "It's time to go."

With that, he pulled Zoe out of the room as William started shouting after them about corpses and death. Dan and Zoe, locked in a tight embrace, rested against the wall as two nurses flew into the room. Zoe looked up at Dan, who looked pale, his blue eyes showing that a kind of fear she wasn't used to seeing on him.

"Is that what happened last time?" Zoe asked softly. "Is that how you knew . . ." she trailed off as Dan nodded miserably, resting his forehead against hers, sighing.

"So much for that. What now?"

Zoe bit her lip. "I might know how we can find the truth for sure."

Dan brushed her hair back from her face. "What's that?"

"We go pay Jack Watkins a visit." Zoe told him.

* * *

A week later, Dan and Zoe found themselves once again outside an old people's home. This one didn't resemble a jail, like William's did. It looked like a cozy house and Dan realised that this was the kind of place that he wanted to end up in when he got old.

"Let's get this over with." Dan said, walking inside, Zoe easily keeping pace with him.

As they walked in, the woman at the desk looked up. "Daniel Morgan?"

Dan nodded. "We spoke on the phone."

She nodded. "Down the corridor, four doors down."

Dan nodded and started walking down the corridor, counting the doors. Zoe couldn't help noticing how silent he was and she too his hand, squeezing his fingers tightly. Dan glanced over at her as they reached the door they'd been looking for, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and kissing the side of her head. "You know I'm gad to have you here, right?"

Zoe reached up and kissed him lightly. "I love you."

"I love you too." Dan whispered, kissing her forehead. Then he took a deep breath and walked through the door, looking around curiously.

"Billy . . ." Someone said. Dan turned to see an old man staring at him curiously.

"I'm Daniel Morgan. I'm actually here to talk to you about Billy." Dan said.

"Jack Watkins." The man said, sitting down in a chair. He had grey hair, but he still a few remaining flecks of black in it. He gestured to the remaining one, not having noticed Zoe yet. As Dan sat down, Jack noticed Zoe, standing awkwardly.

"Here Zo." Dan said.

Zoe shook her head and offered him a small smile. "I'm fine."

"What do you want to know about Billy?" Jack asked.

"I need to know . . . about his son. Mason." Dan said.

"What about him?"

"Is it true that Billy tried to get him to join MI9, but he didn't want to?" Dan asked.

Jack nodded. "It got to such a point that Mason moved away and took his mother's maiden name."

"What was his mother's maiden name?" Dan asked quietly.

"Morgan. Lucinda Morgan . . . Daniel Morgan. You're . . . You're Billy's grandson." Jack said. "My God. I never thought I'd get to meet any of you."

Dan smiled. "I suppose I am."


	6. Chapter 6

"You okay?" Keri asked as she sat down beside Zoe, who was staring off into space and apparently, hadn't heard her. Sighing, Keri pinched her sister's arm, watching in amusement as Zoe (not literally) jumped five metres into the air and (literally) yelped so loudly that the entire school could hear her.

"What was that for?" Zoe asked, glaring half-heartedly at Keri.

"You looked like you were in a trance." Keri responded.

"_So?"_

"Well, let's see, I've only been in a trance twice." Keri started. "The last time, I nearly blinded four people trying to get out of it."

"Four?" Zoe asked.

"Yep. Scraper, two of his minions and your boyfriend." Keri said, jerking her head towards where Dan and Roly were watching some video on Dan's tablet. At Zoe's confused expression, Keri elaborated with two words. "Laser lashes."

"Oh." Zoe said.

"Speaking of your boyfriend . . ." Keri started. "Do you know what's up with him? He's been really distracted lately."

"Wow. He must be, if that's coming from you." Zoe commented, grinning.

Keri smiled. "Yeah, but this is _Dan _we're talking about. Do you know what's up?"

"No, I don't." Zoe lied, shaking her head. Immediately after they'd gone to see Jack Watkins several weeks before, Dan and Zoe had both agreed to keep Dan's relation to Billy Backshaw to themselves for now, with the exception of one Thomas Tupper. He'd grilled both of them as soon as they'd returned from their little field trip on their findings until they told him and made him swear to secrecy for the time being. The others, however, hadn't had any idea that Tom and Zoe were even looking into Billy at all – they'd just thought that Zoe was pulling all-nighters with Dan and that Tom was staying up too late playing _Blade Quest. _

"You're lying to me." Keri said suspiciously, narrowing her eyes.

Zoe threw up her hands. "Why would I lie to you, Keri? I'm telling you the truth. _I don't know why he's distracted."_

Keri looked annoyed. "You don't have to get all defensive about it."

Zoe rolled her eyes and got up, walking over to where Dan was standing, his blue eyes watching her carefully. Dan's mouth tugged up into a half smile as Zoe approached him, his arms encircling her waist as he rested his head against Zoe's.

"You okay?" Dan asked gently, earning him only a sigh from Zoe.

"What happened?"

"Keri and I had a fight." Zoe mumbled.

Dan sighed and kissed her hair gently. "What about?"

"You." Zoe mumbled. "She's worried about you."

Dan drew back, raising one eyebrow as he glanced quickly between Zoe and Keri. "She doesn't have a crush on me or anything, does she?"

Zoe laughed. She'd seen the way her sister and boyfriend acted around each other and it was just as if they were related – the two could get into arguments over the tiniest little things, just like true siblings. The idea of Keri viewing Dan as a possible boyfriend was ludicrous.

"Trust me, Dan." Zoe said, smiling. "She doesn't have a crush on you."

Before Dan could reply, he saw something flashing in puerperal vision. Pulling his pencil out of pocket, they both saw that the end was flashing.

* * *

"Team." Frank said as the five teens walked in, all looking ready for action.

"This," Frank said, pulling up a photo of a dark-skinned woman up onto the screen, "is Lisa Belikov. Her family has connections with M.I.9 and we have received intelligence that suggests that KORPS are targeting anyone who has connections to M.I.9 through family in the 1940's. Aneisha, I need you to stay here and help Tom on comms. Dan, Zoe and Keri, you go in, find Lisa and bring her back here."

"Let's go –" Keri started, before Dan cut her off.

"Frank, what connection to M.I.9 does Lisa have? The name Belikov doesn't ring any bells. It's a Russian name."

"It's not important right now. Get Lisa and bring her back here. She might have her daughter with her."

"Bring the daughter back too?" Zoe asked.

Frank nodded and together Dan, Zoe and Keri walked into the lift, the two sisters refusing to even glance at each other.

* * *

While Tom and Aneisha traced Lisa's location to an office building, Zoe walked alongside Dan, keeping quiet. Dan touched her wrist quickly and Zoe looked up at him as he asked, "You okay?"

"I, uh . . . yeah. I'm just thinking about this Lisa and how she could be related to anyone in M.I.9. I keep thinking that maybe she's related to Emily Cartwright."

Dan pulled out his spy pod and a photo of Lisa flashed up on the screen. He pursed his lips. "I suppose she could be. She looks to be about the right age."

"I hope not." Zoe said quietly. "Because if she is Emily's daughter, then that could mean that you're in danger from KORPS."

Dan shook his head and put his spy pod into his pocket. "I'm a spy, Zo. I'm _always _in danger from KORPS."

"You know what I mean." Zoe told him.

"Mm-hm." Dan replied as they reached the office building and he pushed the door open, holding it for the two girls. The whole place was empty, but it looked as if everyone had left in a rush. Dan looked at the two girls, sighing. "Split up. We need to find Lisa and get out of here as soon as possible."

Zoe nodded and moved to the door on her right, pushing it open and slipping inside. Keri moved down further while Dan walked over to one of the desks, his blue eyes carefully looking for sign of a struggle. He was sorting through the papers on the desk when he heard Zoe's voice yelling his name. Scattering the paper, he ran over to the door Zoe had disappeared through, wrenching it open and stumbling inside.

What struck him first was how _red _the room was. At first he thought that it was just that the carpet was red, but then he realised that it was just that there was a pool of blood that had stained the carpet. There was a woman lying on the floor, a wound with dried blood on the side of her head, barely visible between her dark skin and black hair. Dan could see blood soaked into the light blue fabric of the woman's blouse.

Dan's eyes rose to meet Zoe's as she turned. He could see the horror painted across her expression. He knew that he couldn't leave photographing the evidence to Keri while he comforted Zoe – although Keri had been exposed to more than Zoe had in the short time she'd actually had freedom, they had the same gentle hearts. She wouldn't be able to handle.

"Keri!" Dan shouted. "Keri, get in here!"

"No!" Keri yelled back. "Zoe can deal with it herself!"

Fighting the urge to bang his head against the wall, Dan walked out of the room and stormed up to Keri, grabbing her arm and pulling her back to the room where Zoe was. Just as they reached the door, Keri dug her heels in and wrenched her arm from his grip. "I'm not going in there. Whatever it is, she can deal with it herself."

"Oh can she?" Dan shot back. "She's more innocent than you are and we both know it. There's blood _staining _the carpet in there and Lisa's _dead_. Zoe's already going to have nightmares about this for at least a fortnight. I'm not expecting you to document the evidence because I don't think you'd be able to handle that. All I want you to do is to swallow your pride, get her out of there and make sure she knows that she's loved and we won't let the same thing happen to her."

Keri sighed and then pushed the door open , walking straight up Zoe. Zoe looked vaguely surprised, but she didn't object as Keri wrapped her arm around Zoe's shoulders and led her out of the room. Dan walked into the room and knelt down in front of Lisa's body, pulling out his spy pod and photographing it and sending it to Tom.

Then he pulled out his communicator and held it to his ear. "Tom? Did you get that?"

"_Yeah. That's horrible." _Tom said. "_Neish had to leave the room. She looked about ready to throw up."_

"Lovely." Dan replied, shoving his communicator into his pocket. He stood up to leave, but then he heard a sound that sounded like a whine.

"Hello?" Dan asked, walking over to the desk in one corner. Telling himself that the room was empty but unable to stop himself, he knelt down behind the desk.

He was greeted with a pair of innocent brown orbs, looking up at him in fear. Dan suddenly remembered about Lisa's daughter as this little girl, who didn't look much older than six or seven, asked him where her mother was.


	7. Chapter 7

Dan reached one hand out to the little girl huddled under the desk palm up. She didn't look to be any older than seven or eight and she huddled herself further up against the desk, but when she spoke, her little voice was loud and clear. "Who are you? Are you going to try and hurt me too?"

Dan shook his head. "I'm not going to hurt you. My name's Dan. You can trust me. What's your name?"

The girl looked wary, but she said, "Emily."

"Come on, Emily." Dan said, reaching out for her again. This time, Emily took his hand and crawled out from under the desk, not looking behind her. Dan guessed that she had watched her mother murdered.

Emily didn't utter a sound as Dan led her through the office building. When he stepped out, he passed the little girl over to Keri. In other circumstances, Dan would have left comforting the traumatised child to Zoe. That was her area of expertise. But it was kind of hard to console a traumatised child when you were traumatised yourself.

While Keri tended to Emily, Dan moved to Zoe, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly. When Zoe buried her face in his neck, her cheeks felt wet with tears and she whimpered, "The blood. Dan, the blood."

"Shh. I know. It's okay. You're safe." Dan whispered into her hair. "I think we were right . . . about Lisa being related to Emily Cartwright."

"Why?" Zoe asked, pulling away and wiping her tears from her cheeks. His words seemed to have the desired effect – they distracted her from the horror she'd seen.

"Well, for one, Lisa's dead and two, the girl," Dan said, jerking his head in Emily's direction, "is named _Emily. _And I'll bet you fifty pounds she's named after her grandmother."

Zoe nodded and glanced over at Keri, who had somehow managed to get the little girl to laugh. Then she looked over at Dan. "We need to get back to Frank. I have a feeling he's hiding something from us."

* * *

They obviously had to blindfold Emily when they took her down to HQ and Aneisha brightened up at the sight of the little girl. There were dried tears on her cheeks, but this barely bothered Emily as she revelled in the attention Aneisha gave her.

"What happened?" Frank asked.

"We got there too late, Frank." Dan said as Stella seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Dan looked down as he said quietly, "She was already dead. There was blood everywhere."

"Who found her?" Frank asked, obviously concerned with whose mental state he was going to have to deal with.

"Zo did." Dan said quietly. Frank glanced over at Zoe, who looked down at the table top as Dan gripped her hand, his fingertips brushing gently over the back of her hand.

"Are you okay, Zoe?" Frank asked gently.

"I'm fine."

"You're hiding something with this. You wouldn't tell us _how _you knew that this was going to happen." Dan said. "I think we need to know."

"I suppose you do." Stella said, but the way she said it made Dan think that she meant just him. Confirming his suspicions, Stella turned to the others and basically told them to get out. Reluctantly, they obeyed, taking Emily with them. Zoe was more reluctant than the others, looking back over her shoulder at Dan helplessly – torn between following orders and being there for Dan.

Dan gave her a small smile and mouthed, "_I'll be fine_," to her. Although this didn't put her completely at ease, Zoe did turn around and walk into the lift with her friends. Dan picked up the tiniest bit of resent from Keri to Zoe, but he didn't worry about it. It wasn't up to him to lose sleep over tiny little fights between his girlfriend and her sister. That was something the two girls were going to have to work out on their own.

Dan turned back to Stella and Frank. "So what's going on?"

"You know exactly what's going on." Stella said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Excuse me?" Dan asked.

"We know you and Zoe and Tom were looking into Billy Backshaw." Frank said.

"No, Zoe started looking into him . . ." Dan trailed off, fully aware that he'd just walked straight into their trap. "Fine. Zoe and Tom looked into him and found out that he's my grandfather. So Zoe and I went to go see him, but he was just as insane as ever, so we went to go see Jack Watkins and –"

"You did _what?!" _Stella screeched.

"We went to go see Jack Watkins." Dan repeated.

"For Christ's sake . . . " Stella said, exasperated. "Dan, in case you haven't figured it out already, you aren't KORPS' favourite person. You are _very _far from it. Crime Minister already wants your head on a platter for interfering last year –"

"Zoe's not even the clone of the Mastermind." Dan said.

"It doesn't matter to her, Dan." Frank said. "You interfered, that immediately makes you a target. And now that they're after descendants again –"

"Wait, what do you mean, 'again'?" Dan asked.

Stella shot Frank a look and he sighed. "Around the same time Billy tried to get your father to join M.I.9, Dan, KORPS started targeting the descendants of great M.I.9 agents. Jemima Thursday's daughter was killed, and she was just one among many. Mason knew Jemima's daughter and that's part of what fuelled his escape from anything to do with M.I.9. That Lisa we sent you to get today, she was Emily Cartwright's daughter."

"Then that makes Emily Emily Cartwright's granddaughter." Dan said.

Frank nodded. "They went after Lisa once before, but M.I.9 got to her in time. Looks like we weren't so lucky this time."

Dan nodded. "So what happens to me?"

Frank sighed and raked a hand through his curly, unruly dark brown hair. "This is the dilemma. We can't move you, because if KORPS notice that we're down an agent, they're going to work it out. So basically, you get similar precautions that we take with Keri."

Dan nodded. "What'll happen to Emily?"

"Well, she's motherless now. Her father is, from what I can make out, an absolute scumbag."

"That's nice."

"Well he left her and her mother when Emily was three. I don't want to put her with someone like that, not when her life may be in danger. I doubt he'd take her anyway, so she's going to be put into an M.I.9 foster home, where she'll be safe."

Dan nodded. "Did they . . . Did they ever work out that Dad's Billy's son."

Frank nodded. "They did. Just after Kevin was born. They went after him too."

Dan's breath caught in his throat and he gripped the table. He forced himself to breathe as the full force of what was happening sunk in. He'd grown to accept that KORPS were after Zoe, and then after Keri. He'd even accepted a long time ago that Crime Minister wanted Frank's head on a stake for what he'd done to KORPS ten years ago, but suddenly when he was faced with he himself being their target, hypocritical or not, it was hard for him to accept. He wasn't used to being the one who needed protecting. He couldn't remember a time when he hadn't protected Zoe and he'd been protecting Keri for months simply because she was related to Zoe.

"Dan?" Frank asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Zoe." Dan croaked, barely recognising his own voice. "Get Zoe down here."

Frank nodded and within minutes, Dan heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Zoe standing behind him, her eyes a mixture of curiosity and concern, but her concern for him won out. Without a word, she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. Dan buried his face in Zoe's shoulder, hoping that the smell of her perfume would calm him. For once, the one time that he really needed the calming sensation her presence usually provided, he felt the tears come harder and faster.

"It's just really hit, hasn't it?" Zoe whispered, her hands resting on the back of his shoulders. Dan pulled away slightly to look at her, his eyes sparkling with tears.

Zoe's fingers found his and she pulled him over the desk, forcing him down into a chair as she sat down. As he sat down, it struck Zoe how tall he was.

"How did you know?" Dan asked quietly.

Zoe offered him a small smile. "It never really hit home – what I am and that KORPS wanted to put _the Mastermind's mind into my head _until about a month after I left. I was staying with Kimmi, my sister in France. I just woke up one day and at first, I felt fine. But that day I just . . . I missed you more than I'd ever missed anything in my life. And then, suddenly, it hit me that this _was actually happening _and I was a clone of the Mastermind and he wanted to put his mind in my head. Then it got really bad. I kind of fell into a depression for about a month."

For some reason, although it was possible, the idea of a depressed Zoe was one that Dan couldn't imagine. Zoe reached forward and cupped his face in her hands, her eyes staring into his. "Dan, I didn't have anybody because I was too proud to come back here. I won't let the same thing happen to you, okay? Whether you want me to help or not."

Dan nodded and swallowed thickly, a tear hanging off his eyelashes. "I'm scared, Zo."

"I know." Zoe said gently, embracing him tightly. Dan allowed himself to be held as his body started shaking with his sobs, so violent that he almost had Zoe in tears.


	8. Chapter 8

Several days later, Zoe cornered Keri at lunchtime. Keri looked ready to make a sarcastic joke, but then she noticed the sad look in Zoe's eyes.

"What's up?" Keri asked.

"I wanted to apologise." Zoe said, sitting beside her sister.

"Zoe –"

"No, Keri, let me finish. You were . . . You were right. I was hiding something from you about Dan."

Keri glared and immediately, the guilt in Zoe's heart became ten times as worse. "Keri, please, just hear me out before you blow up at me. Please."

Keri sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine. But make it _real_ quick, Zoe. I mean it."

"Okay, well . . . Just after I came back here, Dan told me the story of the original M. team."

"Billy, Emily and Jack?" Keri asked, confused and intrigued all at the same time, despite her anger.

Zoe nodded. "Well, I got kind of curious as to why Dan looks so much like Billy and I started looking into it. When I couldn't find anything, I got Tom to help me and that's when we found that . . . Billy Backshaw is Dan's grandfather."

"He's his _what?" _Keri shouted.

"Shh!" Zoe cried. "Keri, keep quiet. I'm not meant to be telling you this."

"So why are you?" Keri asked.

"Because . . . Because you're my sister. I don't want to have to keep secrets from you."

Keri smiled, squeezing Zoe's hand as she said, "Doesn't this put Dan in danger from KORPS? You know, since they're after all the family of M.I.9 agents . . ."

Zoe nodded. "Dan's still living with his family, but . . . He has been put under M.I.9 protection and he's scared, Ker."

"How scared?" Keri asked quietly, almost afraid to ask.

"He was crying, Keri." Zoe said gently. "He's so scared and all I can do is _understand _and I don't want to just understand. I want to be able to tell him that he's fine, that KORPS aren't after him, that he's going to be fine and I thought . . . Well, you understand more than anyone what it's like to know that at any minute, you could be taken."

"So do you." Keri said quietly.

"Yeah, but not like you do. When I was taken to be turned into the Mastermind, I wasn't expecting it and afterwards, I was pretty much immediately looking for our sisters. I was always moving, so I didn't have the time to worry about it. But your circumstances are more like Dan's." Zoe said.

"This means a lot to you, doesn't it?" Keri asked.

Zoe nodded. "I love him, Keri."

Keri smiled. "I wish I had a love like you two. I'll go talk to him."

Zoe smiled and hugged her. "Thank you, Keri. For understanding."

Keri simply nodded as Zoe released her, dashing off to go find Dan.

* * *

Only fifteen minutes later, Keri returned, looking dejected. Zoe looked up, saw her expression and her heart dropped.

"No." Zoe whispered, sitting down. "No. Please no."

"I couldn't find him." Keri said quietly. "It doesn't mean he's gone. He may have just gone home sick or . . ."

"I saw him only twenty minutes ago." Zoe said, blinking away tears. "He was fine then."

Keri hugged her tightly. "We'll find him, okay? I promise. I'll gather up Tom and Neish to search the school again while you go tell Frank what's happening. Deal?"

Zoe nodded against Keri's shoulder. Keri released her and watched sadly as Zoe disappeared inside the school before running off to find Tom and Aneisha.

* * *

"Frank!" Zoe shouted, running out of the lift.

"Zoe?" Frank asked, walking out and immediately noticing Zoe's distraught expression. "What's wrong?"

"It's Dan." Zoe said. "He – he . . ."

"Here. Sit down." Frank said, guiding her into a chair. Zoe thankfully sank into it, blinking back tears as she played nervously with the bracelet on her left wrist. It was one that Dan had given her – it was a simple thin leather band with her name written on it – Zoe, not V95. She liked it because it was a constant reminder to who she was to Dan and her friends, not to who she was to KORPS. To Dan and the others, she was Zoe, not someone who could just be thrown away when she wasn't needed anymore, but a friend, a sister, a lover.

"Frank!" Keri yelled, running out of the lift with Tom and Aneisha. "Dan's definitely not here. We looked everywhere and even tried his phone and communicator – he wouldn't pick up either."

"He's what?" Frank asked, standing up.

"Dan's gone." Aneisha repeated.

Frank looked over at Zoe, with her eyes sparkling with unshed tears in the green-coloured lighting and her hands still nervously playing with her bracelet. Then he looked over at Tom, who immediately walked over to the computer and sat down in front of it, his fingers tapping frantically on the keyboard.

"I inserted a chip under Dan's skin that includes a homing beacon." Frank started.

"You did _what?!" _Zoe cried, panic making her voice sound an octave higher than usual.

"A chip with a homing beacon." Frank repeated patiently. "The same as the ones you and Keri have."

"We have homing beacons?" Both girls asked at the same time.

Frank nodded and pulled out a small device. He clicked a button on it and immediately, a dull green light started flashing under the skin on the underside of their wrists. Zoe stared at it, amazed. She touched the skin that was flashing green and then she looked up at Frank, her eyes again glistening with tears, but instead of being tears of grief, Frank could see that they were tears of newfound hope. "And Dan's got one of these?"

Frank nodded. "His flashes blue, but yes, he does."

"Found it." Tom said, pulling up a map. Zoe turned to look at the screen, noticing the blue pulsing circle on an old barn, of all places. It had Dan's name written next to it and Zoe felt herself begin to hope that maybe, just maybe, she would see him again, alive.

"Frank." Keri said quietly, her blue eyes glancing nervously between the screen and their mentor. "What does it mean if the chip stops transmitting?"

Frank looked uncomfortable, but he said, "Those chips get the power they need to operate from the heart of the person they're in. The only way to make them stop transmitting is to –"

"Either cut the chip out or for the person they're in to die." Aneisha said, her voice sounding horribly hollow. Zoe couldn't help thinking that her chest felt as hollow as Aneisha's voice as Keri wrapped her arm around Zoe's shoulders and rubbed the skin on her upper arm, which was covered completely in goosebumps. And Zoe knew, that if she lost Dan, she'd have to learn to live with that hollow feeling, because if Dan died, he would take her heart with him.


	9. Chapter 9

Dan woke, feeling like he had a hangover. His head was pounding – it felt like the sides of his head were slowly being forced towards each other, pressing against his brain. Actually, his whole body hurt. He felt like he'd been hit by a bus.

Tired, his whole body aching and his heart yearning for Zoe, Dan raised his head drowsily and almost jumped five feet into the air when he was met with the Crime Minister's face – her cruel eyes, her lips painted red and he almost screamed out her name, but he bit down on his tongue and stopped himself. Then, mustering all the acting skills he possessed, he slipped into the role of the terrified adolescent boy who was definitely _not _a spy and whimpered, "Who are you? What do you want? What am I doing here?"

Crime Minister sneered. "Don't play games with me, _boy. _I know actually who you are, who you're related to."

Dan felt his heart sink, but he didn't let it show, throwing himself forward against the hands that held his arms like a vice. "What are you talking about? Where am I? Who are you?"

Crime Minister slapped him across the face and the force of the blow snapped his head to the side as she hissed, "Don't play games with me! Do you take me for fool? I know _exactly _who you are."

Dan dropped the act, his blue eyes turning determined. "So, who do you want this time?"

"Oh, but it's you that I want." Crime Minister said. "We have a lot in common, you and I."

Then she walked out and the guards holding Dan deposited him onto the cold stone floor before following her. Dan heard the door lock and he moaned, rolling over onto his back. Gasping with the effort it cost him, Dan pulled the hem of his jacket up, exposing his stomach. His usually slightly sun-browned skin was covered in bruises. Dan, groaning, sat up and looked around. He appeared to be in barn, except it had been converted to serve as a jail cell – the floor was cement and there didn't look like there'd be much chance of him getting out. Not that he would get very far, given the condition he was in.

So instead of trying to find a way out like he normally would, Dan curled up on the cold, hard floor and passed out practically straight away.

* * *

A few hours later, Dan woke. He felt considerably better – his head no longer felt as if it were going to explode and it no longer hurt to move. He saw a shock of black hair in puerperal vision and he scrambled to his feet, his muscles tensed for a fight.

Crime Minister, leaning against the wall, laughed and rolled her eyes. "Typical."

Dan clenched his jaw. "You don't know anything about me."

"Oh really?" Crime Minister asked. "Well, I know that you are the grandson of the infamous Billy Backshaw, better known as William Morgan and that you are in love with _Zoe."_

All of a sudden, Dan wanted to punch her so hard he broke her nose. He could feel the power in his hands. He could do it. He wanted to, just from the way she said Zoe's name, as if it tasted bad in her mouth.

"You don't know anything about her." Dan said levelly.

"Don't I? Well I can bet that she doesn't even care that you're missing. I bet she's not even looking for you, that her and all your little friends are doing just fine without you."

"No!" Dan shouted. "No, they're not! They're looking for me, I know they are!" Then his voice quietened. "I know _she_ is."

Crime Minister smiled. "Why would they? I mean, you're just the hired brawn, aren't you?"

"No. I'm more than that." Dan said.

"Are you? What else do you bring, Daniel?" Crime Minister asked.

Dan faltered. What else _did _he bring to the team?

"See, you may think that you're like _her_," Crime Minister said, "like those spies, who try and _fail _to make the world a better place, but the truth is, deep down, you're just like me."

Dan shook his head. "You're wrong. I'm _nothing _like you."

Crime Minister smiled. "You really are stupid, aren't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Dan asked.

"How do you think I found the names of the daughter of Emily Cartwright and the grandson of Billy Backshaw?"

"Probably some traitor inside M.I.9." Dan said.

"And who's the only one who's descendants _haven't _been attacked?" Crime Minister asked.

Instantly, understanding and horror spread across Dan's features. "You're Jack Watkin's daughter. That's how you found me – I went to see him and he passed the information on to you."

Crime Minister smiled. "Maybe you do have a use, after all."

Then she walked out, leaving Dan staring after her in astonishment.

* * *

"So what's our plan of attack?" Keri asked as she sat in the back of the black M.I.9 van with Zoe, Aneisha, Frank and Stella. There were four other M.I.9 agents there with them.

"You and me sneak in and find him." Zoe said. "Then, while we're getting him out, you guys show up and distract them."

"Okay, but why Keri?" Stella asked.

"Keri learns fast." Zoe said. "I've done at least five missions with her and she's picked up a lot of my training – the way I fight and the way I sneak around. If there's anyone I'd want to have my back, it's Keri."

Keri smiled at her as Frank nodded and Zoe moved, pushing the door to the van open and hopping out. Keri followed and together, they moved towards the big red barn. They could both see the KORPS guards everywhere, but there were none around the back. Keeping as quiet as they could, the two redheads crept around the back, where there was a big window. Zoe pulled the window open, cringing when it scraped loudly against the window pane. She finally got it open and was about to climb through when she heard Keri yell out her name.

Turning, Zoe saw Keri struggling with a KORPS agent. Zoe snuck up behind him and hit him in the junction between his shoulder and neck, so that he fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Thanks." Keri breathed.

Zoe nodded. "Let's go, before more of them come."

Keri nodded, following Zoe as she climbed through the window and into the barn.

"He's meant to be here." Zoe said, her panic rising. "Where _is he?"_


	10. Chapter 10

Dan was awoken in his sleep, being dragged by his arms through a different part of a barn. What he'd been in before must've only been the horse stables or something, either that, or this was the biggest damn barn in the northern hemisphere. Finally, his feet stopped dragging across the floor, gathering hay, and he was dropped onto his back. Then he was yanked to his feet by his hair and it was the most primal ways to get him to stand, and the most unexpected way, that he actually yelled out in pain, kicking out at the Crime Minister as she snarled in his face, "You little _bastard_. Your little friends have come to find us because of you."

"Why don't you just kill me?" Dan asked, his blue eyes flashing.

"Because that would be too easy for _you." _Crime Minister hissed. "And because you don't really want to die, do you?"

Dan stared at her, desperately hoping that he wasn't giving anything away in his expression as she said, "You want to live out the rest of your _pitiful _existence with V95, fighting crime, side by side. How pathetic."

Hearing her refer to Zoe as 'V95' and calling her pathetic, all in the space of ten seconds, sparked something in Dan. He kicked out, his foot making contact with her hip. Her legs buckled beneath her and she let go of Dan's hair, still struggling to keep herself standing as he yelled, "Her name's Zoe!"

Crime Minister glared up at him, noticing the blue light flashing in his wrist.

"Grab him!" Crime Minister shouted, now steady on her feet. Two KORPS guards sprang up out of nowhere and grabbed Dan, forcing him to his knees in front of her. Crime Minister grabbed Dan's right arm, her eyes focused on his wrist, where a consistent blue light was flashing underneath his skin. Without a word, she held out her hand and one of the KORPS agents passed her a knife. This wasn't a butter knife – it was more of a throwing dagger, made to inflict damage. Crime Minister drove it down, into Dan's wrist, smiling as he screamed. Dan tried to get away from her, but she wouldn't allow him to move, so he was forced to endure the pain that came with her trying to cut the flashing light out of him.

Then suddenly, she dropped to the floor, unconscious, revealing Zoe and Keri. The two KORPS guards sprang forward and Keri started to fight them while Zoe ran forward, kneeling in front of Dan. Her eyes flickered to his face quickly before she looked down at his arm.

"Zoe . . . What is it?" Dan asked, having to speak slowly so that he wouldn't start crying from the pain in his arm.

"A microchip with a homing beacon. Me and Keri have one too. See?" She held out her arm so that he could see the flashing green light on her wrist.

"Oh, Dan." Zoe said quietly. "What've they done to you?"

"She tried to cut it out." Dan croaked as Zoe dug into her pocket, pulling out a bandage. Zoe shook her head as she bandaged his arm. When she was done, she sat back on her heels and placed her hand on his cheek. "You're going to be okay, now, Dan. I promise."

Dan rested his forehead against Zoe's for a moment before allowing her to pull him to his feet.

"Are you okay, Dan?" Keri asked, two KORPS guards lying at her feet.

"I'm okay, Ker. I'll live."

Keri moved to Dan's other side, grabbing his arm and draping it around her shoulders as a hand wrapped around Zoe's ankle, tugging her backwards. Zoe screamed as the Crime Minister pressed a knife to her throat, hard enough to cause pain but not hard enough to draw blood.

"Give me either K.3.R.1 or the Backshaw boy and V95 here won't die." She said, just as the door was flung open and Frank, Stella, Aneisha and Tom standing in the back, were standing in the doorway.

"You're not getting any of them." Frank said.

"Oh, aren't I, London? Well, maybe, if I do this . . ." She pressed the blade of the knife harder into Zoe's throat so that a little trail of blood ran down the white skin of her throat. Zoe writhed and tried to get herself free, but she only really managed to get the cut bigger.

Meanwhile, Tom had been creeping behind Crime Minister, a taser in his hands. Just as Dan looked ready to surrender himself up in return for Zoe, Crime Minister collapsed on the floor, twitching violently. Zoe stumbled to Dan, who wrapped his good arm around her tightly.

"It's okay." He murmured in her ear. "We're okay."

"We should arrest her." Aneisha said, nodding towards Crime Minister.

"No time." Stella said. "There's KORPS reinforcements headed this way. We need to get out of here _now._"

Zoe and Keri helped Dan walk through the massive barn complex – he'd hurt his ankle at some point, so he couldn't really walk on it properly. Eventually they stumbled out into the now-fading sunlight, where the van was parked. Frank walked ahead of them, pulling the van door open so that Keri and Zoe could help Dan in.

Dan had never felt so tired in his life. Before the van even started moving, he was curled up with his head in Zoe's lap, with her hands brushing through his hair.

* * *

Zoe looked up tiredly as Dan stirred, blue eyes blinking up at her. "Zoe?"

Zoe reached across and squeezed his hand. "I'm right here, Dan."

"Zoe." Dan hummed softly. "I love you. How bad was it?"

"Your injuries weren't actually that bad. Sprained ankle, cut in your arm. You were dehydrated too, but we've fixed that now too." Zoe said. She tried to sound happy, but she couldn't help feeling upset. She'd come so close to losing him.

"Hey." Dan said. "I'm right here, okay?"

Zoe nodded, leaning forward and resting her forehead against his. With the arm that wasn't heavily bandaged, Dan brushed her hair back from her face. Zoe tilted her head to the side and kissed him gently.

When they broke apart, Dan smiled at her. "Better?"

Zoe nodded. "Dan, when you were out . . . you kept mumbling about Crime Minister and Jack Watkins."

Dan's brow furrowed. He was supposed to remember something about Jack Watkins . . . some connection he had to the Crime Minister.

"The Crime Minister is Jack Watkins' daughter." Dan said slowly.

Zoe sat back in her chair, covering her mouth with her hands as she looked at him tearfully. "We went to see him about Billy . . . Oh my God. Dan, that was my idea. Oh my . . . I can't even –"

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Dan said gently. "It's not your fault."

Zoe nodded, brushing her tears away. "I should probably go tell the others that you're up."

"Zoe, wait." Dan said. "What would you say if . . . I changed my last name to Backshaw?"

Zoe considered his question carefully before she answered. "I'd say that I love you, no matter what your last name is."


	11. Epilogue

It took Dan several weeks to build up the courage to pitch his idea of changing his last name to Backshaw to Mason Morgan. Zoe had urged him towards it – if he was going to be targeted by KORPS for his relation to a member of the original M. team, he should at least wear the name of said original M. team member.

"Dad." Dan said, walking into the kitchen two and a half weeks after he was released from hospital after his capture from KORPS.

"Yeah, Dan?"

"What would you say if . . . I asked if I could change my last name to Backshaw?" Dan asked.

Mason turned to look at his son and Kevin, sitting in the living room, froze, all his attention focused on the conversation his younger brother and father were having – he even muted the TV to hear them better. He knew that the blonde was treading dangerous waters now. The tension in the air was so thick that Mason could have grabbed a knife from the counter and cut it.

Mason stared at his youngest son for a long time until he said quietly, "I would say that that makes you more of a man that I have ever been, Daniel."

It was like someone had simply sucked up all the tension, leaving no remains, allowing the room to breathe again.

* * *

SIX WEEKS LATER

* * *

Billy Backshaw slowly got out of bed, noticing the piece of paper on his bedside table. He picked up the document, feeling his mouth tug into a smile as he read the name printed on it – Daniel James Backshaw.

"I _knew _the whole crazy thing was just an act." Said a voice from the doorway. Billy looked up to see the mirror image of his younger self – although this one wore jeans and a grey V-neck T-shirt.

"You're a smart kid." Billy said.

"You're smarter." Dan replied, moving to sit in the chair at Billy's bedside. "Even back when Dad was _eighteen_, you knew KORPS were going to come after us."

Billy nodded. "That's just how KORPS are. When I found out that Jack had turned traitor, I knew that KORPS would come after me and Emily, as well as our descendants. I knew that if I angered Mason enough, he would move away, take his mother's name and create a new life for himself. I hoped – I'd hoped that it would be enough. Well, you're still here and you're brother and father are still here, so everything worked out okay."

Dan shook his head. "It didn't. Emily's daughter – Lisa, she, um . . . KORPS killed her."

"And her daughter?"

"She's in M.I.9 foster care." Dan replied.

Billy nodded. "We must protect our own, Daniel."

Dan nodded. "There's someone I want you to meet."

Billy looked intrigued. "Who is it?"

"Zoe!" Dan called. Within seconds, the pretty redhead was at the doorway, cautiously making her way to stand beside Dan's chair. Dan took her hand, smiling up at her lovingly. "Grandpa, this is my girlfriend, Zoe. Zo, this is Billy."

"But you already knew that, didn't you?" Billy asked. "You're the one who figured it out."

Zoe flushed. "Yes sir. Uh . . . I don't mean to be rude, but . . . why did you pretend to be crazy, all these years?"

"To protect my son and to protect my grandchildren." Billy replied. "I thought that if people thought I was crazy, no one would make the connection between Billy Backshaw and William Morgan."

"Except me. I didn't know that you were in here until Dan told me." Zoe said. "That _why _I made the connection. If I had kept coming up with you, but I had known you were 'insane' I would have deemed it a lost cause, because you're 'crazy'."

Billy nodded. "That day the two of you came to see me, I pretended to be crazy because I hoped that if you thought you weren't going to get the answers you were looking for, you'd stop looking. It's more dangerous now that you know who you are, but you'll also be able to prepare yourself better. I never thought you'd go and search out Jack. I thought he'd died in an M.I.9 prison cell three years ago."

"He was never at M.I.9." Dan said. "I checked his records – he was fired at the same time you were, but he was never imprisoned for any involvement with KORPS."

Billy sighed and leaned forward, taking one of Dan's hands and one of Zoe's. "Take care of each other."

"We already do that." Zoe said.

"Promise me." Billy said.

"I promise." Dan said. This seemed to satisfy Billy – he leaned back against his pillows, seemingly exhausted.

"Goodnight, Billy." Zoe said gently, walking out.

"Night, Grandpa." Dan said softly, taking the documentation of his name change and following Zoe out.

"So, Dan Backshaw, huh?" Zoe said, grabbing the paper from him. "It's got a ring to it."

"I can think of a name that's _even better." _Dan said, pining Zoe against the wall.

"And what name would that be?" Zoe asked breathlessly, her green eye peeking up at Dan through her lashes.

"Zoe Backshaw." Dan whispered in her ear. He felt Zoe shiver against him as he captured her mouth in a kiss, his hands holding her as if she were the most precious thing on this earth.

"One day, Dan. One day." Zoe whispered when they broke apart, smiling up at him.


End file.
